Misadventures With A Mafioso
by pale rose fire
Summary: Kuroko's in the yakuza. Akashi's the only one who knows. And now that he knows, incidents keep popping up that make Akashi very glad Kuroko's his friend. Chapter 2: Kuroko saw the flash of a sniper's scope, but didn't react decisively enough. Now one of them's been shot and they both feel guilty. And they still don't know which of them was the intended target.
1. Chapter 1

"Akashi-kun."

Akashi almost jumped. He barely managed to control his reflexes, but he did manage. So it was with a calm face that he turned to his former teammate, but eternal friend, who'd made one of his usual startling appearances.

"Tetsuya. This is a surprise."

Rakuzan's basketball club practice slowed around them as they realized they had a visitor, or more accurately, an intruder. There wasn't a single person there who didn't recognize Kuroko Tetsuya. It was only a few months since he'd beaten them at Winter Cup. To most, he wasn't a welcome sight.

To Akashi, he would always be. Even when his reason for being there was serious, as it clearly was now. All it took was a glance at him for Akashi to realize this.

The first bit of evidence you could only glean if you knew him very well. There was a tenseness to the muscles in his jaw, like he was having to fight to keep his blank expression from turning into a grave expression.

The second piece of evidence was what he was wearing. The most common way of finding Kuroko dressed was in his school uniform. Even when he wasn't strictly at school, or at least not his own school. Outside of his gakuran, he was likely to be found in athletic clothes that could double as street clothes. Now, however, he wore a black suit, with a black collared shirt underneath, and a black tie. The same thing he'd been wearing the night Akashi learned Kuroko was a member of the yakuza group known as the Black Hands. Not just a member, even. Akashi was fairly certain Kuroko had been born into their main family.

Prior to that night, Akashi had thought Kuroko was the least likely person he knew to be involved in any sort of organized crime venture. He hadn't thought Kuroko capable of perpetrating violence against another. Then he'd seen Kuroko in action. Or, at least, he'd seen the results of Kuroko in action. And he'd seen Kuroko viciously shoot one man many, many times, before finishing him off with the Black Hand's signature way of killing their enemies – with a bullet to the head and another to the chest. Akashi hadn't felt a bit of pity for that man, considering that the man had kidnapped him, was holding him for ransom, and had planned on torturing Akashi in the worst possible way Akashi could imagine. He tried not to think about what would have happened if Kuroko hadn't stalked in and killed every one of those men.

Oddly, however, his way of looking at Kuroko hadn't changed much since finding out the smaller boy was in the yakuza. He couldn't find it in himself to see his friend in any negative light, even after learning about this much darker side of him. Kuroko was his friend. He'd proven that beyond any shadow of a doubt. So Akashi was glad to see him now, even if he knew that Kuroko wasn't here to deliver good news.

"What are you doing here?" asked one of the less talented, overly arrogant bench warmers who stepped forward to try and crowd Kuroko.

"Obviously, he is here to see me," Akashi said, stepping between them and fixing said arrogant fool with a chilling look. The bench warmer backed down very quickly and Akashi allowed himself a small smile. Then he turned to the rest of the club. "Continue practicing."

He only gave that order and no explanation. He didn't need to make explanations. They would obey him or face the consequences. That was all there was to it. Yes, Akashi had learned from Winter Cup. He'd grown not just as a player, but as a person. But that did not mean he was about to tolerate insubordination. If anyone wanted his regard they had to earn it. As Kuroko had. In fact, Kuroko had earned Akashi's respect and friendship a thousand times over.

They left the gym without exchanging anymore words. Kuroko followed Akashi, keeping close, as Akashi led him to an empty classroom.

"It's good to see you, Tetsuya," said Akashi after closing the door, "Even if I know this is something serious. What's wrong?"

Kuroko gave the room a quick once over before answering. "We have a problem."

"Can I help?" asked Akashi. "Whatever you need –"

"You misunderstand, Akashi-kun," said Kuroko. He took a tablet out from inside his jacket and woke it up from its sleep mode. "By 'we' I mean you and I, Akashi-kun."

Akashi stared at him for a moment. "I don't understand."

Kuroko brought up a picture on his tablet and showed it to Akashi. "Do you recognize this man?"

Akashi took a careful look at the picture. It showed a nondescript man in a labcoat, who Akashi had never seen before, outside of a building he knew well. "No. I don't know the man, but I know the building he's in front of. The testing lab for Akai-Chem. The chemical company my family owns. But I guess, from the emblem on his lab coat, that he's an employee there."

"He is," said Kuroko. He flipped to another picture. "What about this man?"

Akashi took a look and shook his head. "No."

"Or this woman?"

Kuroko showed him three more pictures after the woman's. All looked to be employees at Akai-Chem, but Akashi didn't recognize any of them, suggesting that they were no higher than mid-level management. Probably not even that high, or else they'd be dressed in suits rather than labcoats.

"What's this about, Tetsuya?"

"All six of these Akai-Chem employees have been selling PCP in Black Hand territory," said Kuroko.

Akashi fought the urge to cuss. "I promise you, I didn't know anything about that."

"Could your father?"

"No. Of course not," said Akashi.

Kuroko stared at him. His expression was closed, but Akashi could tell he wasn't convinced.

"My father would never condone that. I can vouch for that with confidence," Akashi said.

Kuroko continued to stare, still unsatisfied.

"It's not because of moral reasons that he wouldn't do that," Akashi explained. "It's for more pragmatic ones. He insists on keeping 100 percent of our business ventures completely within the letter of the law. He doesn't want there to be any opportunity for any of our business rivals to ever hold something like this over him. I promise you, Tetsuya, this isn't done with my family's approval."

Kuroko smiled, but only with his eyes, and Akashi knew he was convinced. "That is a relief."

Akashi had to know. "What would have happened if . . ."

"I didn't come here to hurt you, no matter how you answered," said Kuroko quickly.

"But what would have happened?"

"I can't tell you," said Kuroko. "I don't know."

"But you have an idea."

"Yes."

"Tell me," Akashi requested.

Kuroko stared at him, and though his expression didn't change, Akashi just knew he was mentally weighing the pros and cons of telling. "The best case scenario would have been a warning."

Somehow Akashi didn't think that their warning involved a nice chat over tea. He had the feeling that it would have been more along the line of a horse's head in someone's bed. Or an even stronger message than that.

"And the worst case scenario?" he asked.

"Drastic action would have been taken. We don't allow PCP to be distributed on our turf. And we don't allow any drugs to be sold to children."

"They were selling it to children?"

"Yes."

Akashi couldn't hide his distaste. "I'll take care of this. I'll have them terminated immediately."

"We've already terminated them."

Akashi had a feeling that he and Kuroko had different definitions of the word 'terminated.'

"If they were acting independently of your company, there may be others involved. Can I depend on you to weed them out and deal with them?" asked Kuroko.

If Akashi had been anyone else, he probably would have gulped right then. He very much felt like doing that, but suppressed the urge. "I will make sure the situation is taken care of. You won't find anymore drugs being distributed on your turf that have been made in our labs or by our employees."

Akashi would have made sure that was dealt with even without Kuroko's request . . . or the implication that if he didn't find and put a stop to what they were doing, the Black Hands would. In a much more permanent way.

"That is good," said Kuroko.

"I'll speak with my father tonight on the phone and take the bullet train to Tokyo tomorrow," said Akashi. "I'll take care of this personally."

"It would be wise to take body guards when you confront any suspects," Kuroko warned him. "Some of the ones we took care of had been sampling their own merchandise."

"Good advice. I'll keep that in mind," acknowledged Akashi. He was no fool. He didn't want to face hopped up, paranoid drug addicts on his own. No one in their right mind would, even if they did have all of Akashi's considerable skills. "Could you email me the pictures of the employees who you . . . caught?"

Kuroko immediately obliged, deftly sending them through his tablet. "Done."

"Thank you. Did you have more business with me about anything else?"

Kuroko shook his head. "That concludes my business with you."

"Stay for dinner," requested Akashi.

Surprise crossed Kuroko's face momentarily before he schooled his expression back to its usual blank mask. "You want me to stay for dinner."

"Of course. You're my friend."

Kuroko stared.

Akashi felt his heart sinking. He and Kuroko . . . hadn't really spoken since the kidnapping incident. Had Kuroko been worrying that Akashi had rethought wanting to be his friend? All this time?

"You saved my life, you might remember," he said to try and reassure him.

"I also . . . dealt with four people right in front of you."

"Four people who kidnapped me and were going to torture and kill me since my father didn't pay them the ransom," Akashi reminded him.

"Akashi-kun must know that I've done other things." Kuroko didn't go into specifics, but Akashi could imagine. He'd killed other people than just those four.

"That doesn't change the fact that you are my friend," said Akashi. "Stay for dinner."

Kuroko stared at him expressionlessly for several moment more. Then he did that thing where he smiled with just his eyes again. "Well, if you insist."

"I do." Akashi opened the door.

"Akashi-kun?"

'Yes, Tetsuya?"

"I hope you know . . . even in the worst case scenario, you would not have been harmed."

"I know."

* * *

If you want to read about the kidnapping incident, and how Kuroko handled it, it's part of another one of my fics "A Different Side Of Me," and it's Chapter 8: Kuroko no Yakuza. That's the oneshot that sparked this longer fic.

Please review!


	2. Decisive Action: Part 1

Decisive Action: Part 1

* * *

It was a rare reunion amongst the Generation of Miracles that didn't involve basketball, but one was happening now, and Kuroko thought it was nice for a change. Akashi-kun had business with his father's company (business that Kuroko hadn't twisted his arm into dealing with this time) and so he had come to Tokyo. Murasakibara had heard and decided to come down to Tokyo for the weekend too. Kise was only a short train ride away. And Aomine, Midorima, and Kuroko all lived there anyways.

Some basketball might come later. In fact, Kuroko hoped it would. But he'd just finished practice with his team, so he was satisfied for the time being. For now, they were just planning on getting dinner. Just the six of them. Well, seven counting Momoi. He would have liked to bring Kagami too, since Kagami got along so well with his middle school friends. But Akashi requested that it just be them tonight. Kuroko thought he'd been testing his former captain's patience enough lately. He _had_ kind of murdered four people in front of him (admittedly four very bad people who were going to kill Akashi-kun) and then also kind of killed some of the employees working for Akashi's company. Though admittedly, they'd had it coming. Dealing PCP on Black Hand territory was akin to asking for your own death sentence. All the same, Kuroko was sure it hadn't been easy on Akashi. He was more understanding than Kuroko had expected, but everyone had their limits. Kuroko wasn't going to deliberately provoke Akashi now of all times.

"Are we there yet? I'm hungry, Aka-chin."

"You just ate three boxes of Pocky, Murasakicchi! How can you still be hungry?" asked Kise.

"That was minutes ago."

"Patience, Atsushi. We're almost there," said Akashi. He gave the purple haired giant a tolerant smile.

"Where are you taking us again, Akashi?" asked Aomine. He was walking right beside Kuroko, just like in the old days.

"He's told us twice," grumped Midorima. "Will you pay attention?"

"This is fun, isn't it?" asked Momoi on Kuroko's other side, holding onto his arm tightly. There was naked joy on her face as she bounced along beside him, and Kuroko heard what she didn't say. This is just like it used to be.

Except it wasn't. It was different. There was no going back to those days when they were young, innocent, and carefree. Kuroko, in particular, had gone down much darker paths than he'd ever wanted to. He didn't regret it. What happened at Teiko had been eye opening in many ways. It had showed him the path that he needed to take, to protect what he held dear.

But some days he wished that he could be the kid he used to. Like now.

Or maybe not.

No sooner had that thought entered his mind then, like a sign from the gods, showing him the folly of such naivety, a flash of light caught his eye, sending him into full alert mode. Kuroko Tetsuya, Sixth Phantom Player of Teiko probably wouldn't have noticed it. Or if he did, he would have dismissed it as nothing noteworthy.

Kuroko Tetsuya, Black Hand assassin saw that glint of light for what it was. The last light of the setting sun reflecting off a sniper scope.

Danger.

A clear threat.

He needed to respond quickly and decisively.

Fast as Kagami in the zone, fast as Kise making a desperate last sprint to save the game, the situation aligned itself in Kuroko's mind. It surprised him just how fast he could think in times like these. But before his foot hit the ground from the last step he'd taken, the sniper's trajectory was already laid out in his head like a map. As was anything that could be used as cover. And he'd calculated the two most likely targets of the sniper's attack.

Himself . . . and Akashi.

His foot hit the ground. He shifted his weight and gripped Momoi's arm, harder than he ever would have in normal circumstances. Then he twisted so that he could shove her into Aomine. Her weight and momentum sent them both stumbling into an alley.

"Get down!" he shouted at his friends, but knew that they wouldn't understand the danger they were in. How could they? They were all a part of a nice safe world, where the biggest thing you had to worry about was losing a basketball game, or getting an injury from overwork. They thought they were monsters. They had no idea what sort of monsters there really were in the world. Nor did they have any idea that Kuroko was one of those monsters.

Best to be a little rough now, but get the ones he could out of harm's way. He felt a little bad at hearing Momoi's startled cry, but didn't have time to worry about that. He made a desperate lunge for Akashi.

Akashi was the only one who had even an inkling of what might be the problem. Kuroko saw it in his eyes, right before he reached his ex-captain. He collided with Akashi, knocking him down and to the side, behind a parked car right as a shot went off, putting them both out of the sniper's field of vision.

Kuroko landed on top of Akashi. Akashi stared up at him in surprise. Then in something else. Kuroko had only seen that look on his ex-captain's face once, when he'd been tied up in a warehouse, surrounded by those kidnappers who'd been planning to torture and kill him. It only took a second for Kuroko to understand why he was seeing it now, even though he'd just gotten Akashi out of danger. There was a bright red stain spreading across Akashi's chest.

No, no, no! He hadn't gotten Akashi out of danger at all! He hadn't reacted fast enough, or decisively enough! He'd let his friend get hit!

Kuroko rolled off Akashi and gave a quick glance toward his other friends. Kise had been surprisingly quick on the uptake and had joined Aomine and Momoi in the alley. He was peering out at them, white faced with worry. Midorima and Murasakibara had both frozen in uncertainty. Possibly they hadn't realized what was happening yet.

"Midorima-kun, Murasakibara-kun, get off the sidewalk!" Kuroko shouted at them. "Get down behind something! Now! Kise-kun, call an ambulance! Akashi-kun's been shot"

He didn't watch to make sure they obeyed. Instead, he ripped open Akashi's shirt to try and find the bullet wound. He expected to see a lot more blood. But oddly, there was none. No blood there at all. Only pale, unblemished skin. Kuroko frowned, confused, and let his eyes trail over Akashi's shoulders and arms. Maybe the bullet wound was there? When Akashi tried to sit up, he pressed him down, gently, but firmly.

"Don't move, Akashi-kun."

"Tetsuya . . . I'm not the one who was just shot!"

"What? Then who?" asked Kuroko.

It was a stupid question. He'd realize that later.

Honestly, who else was there, who'd been anywhere near Akashi? Who could, in fact, have been the original target? Who else's blood could have gotten on Akashi in the time between now and when the shot went off?

"Who do you think?" shouted Akashi, sitting up and grabbing Kuroko's arm. His touch sent pain racing through Kuroko's arm, from elbow to shoulder, so intense that Kuroko couldn't help it. He cried out.

"What's happening? What's going on? Shot? I don't understand!" Kise was suddenly crouching down with them, pulling Midorima down with one hand, and Murasakibara down with the other. "Gah! Kurokocchi's been shot?"

"That's a lot of blood," said Midorima, looking pale.

"Let go!" screamed Kuroko, because Akashi was pawing at his arm and it burned like a hot iron.

"I don't understand . . ." Murasakibara looked like a lost child.

"Ryouta, do what Tetsuya said and call an ambulance," ordered Akashi, taking over the situation. And taking off his ripped shirt. It fleetingly occurred to Kuroko that maybe he owed Akashi an apology for ruining his shirt. What Akashi said next wiped those thoughts away. "Atsushi, restrain Tetsuya."

"But Kuro-chin's hurt." Murasakibara still seemed at a loss of what to do, even after getting an order from Akashi.

"Don't grab me, please," said Kuroko tersely. "I can take care of this –"

"You've been shot, Tetsuya. You cannot just put a bandaide on this and go about your merry way."

"What the fuck is going on?" Aomine had suddenly joined them.

Kuroko started to feel very agitated. "Why is everyone coming here? The alley is obviously safer. Akashi-kun, keep your head down!"

Akashi had shifted to his knees and let his head get too high. Kuroko used his unshot arm to grab Akashi and pull him back down. In the distance he could hear a siren. So the police were coming. Which meant it was time to get the heck out of here . . .

"The police are coming. I've got to go," said Kuroko.

"You're not going anywhere! Except to a freaking hospital!" Aomine grabbed Kuroko when he started trying to crawl away. Kuroko yelped against the pain, and screamed when something was pressed against his gunshot wound, putting pressure on it. Midorima was the one putting pressure on it. Kuroko wondered what he'd ever done to Midorima to merit this treatment.

"You don't understand! I need to be gone before they get here!"

"Tetsuya, you're going into shock," said Akashi, reaching out to grab his chin and forcing Kuroko to look him in the eyes. "You've just been shot. You need an ambulance. Ryouta is calling one for you."

"But the police –"

"Aren't coming to arrest you."

Kuroko shook his head, feeling uncertain.

"They're not. I promise," said Akashi. "But right now, you need to stay still, keep your mouth shut, and let me take care of you. Alright?"

"No. No, I need . . ." there was something Kuroko was supposed to do in a situation like this. His uncle had briefed him on it. But he couldn't remember now. Something to do with a safehouse maybe? Yes, that was it. "I need to get to a safehouse. My uncle –"

SLAP!

"Akashi!"

"Aka-chin!"

"Akashicchi!"

Everyone was staring at their red haired ex-captain. Kuroko stared at him too.

"I'm sorry. I really am. But I can't let you go into shock," said Akashi. "You need to keep your head, Tetsuya. Please."

It was the pleading that got through to Kuroko. Akashi didn't beg. Not for anything. But . . . oh. Right.

Kuroko took a deep but shaky breath. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. Not to me." Akashi gave Kuroko a pained look then took his hand and squeezed it. "Keep pressure on that wound, Shintarou."

"An ambulance is on the way," said Kise.

"And a police car just pulled up. Two police cars. Three," counted Murasakibara.

"I still don't get what's going on," said Aomine. He was behind Kuroko, holding him more or less immobile, and leaning over him as though to shield him. That was probably a wasted effort, Kuroko thought. The sniper, if he was any kind of assassin at all, would have high tailed it out of there the moment he heard the sirens. To be honest, he should have gotten out the minute Kuroko and Akashi both went behind cover. That was the point, for a sniper anyway, that a hit officially went bust. You couldn't count on your mark being stupid enough to stand up and reveal himself to you again, especially not after you missed your best shot and lost the element of surprise.

"Someone tried to shoot me," said Akashi. His voice was soft but full of emotion. "Tetsuya knew somehow. He saved my life."

"I saw the sniper scope's flash," said Kuroko. "Rookie mistake."

"Huh?" Kise looked bemused.

Kuroko realized his slip up and tried to think of a way to fix it but his brain wouldn't work right.

"Tetsuya reads many mysteries and spy novels," Akashi reminded them. "It seems that the knowledge he gained from them just came in handy."

"I . . . yes." Kuroko closed his eyes. He realized that it was probably better to say as little as possible now. He wasn't in control of his tongue as well as he should be.

"Stay awake, Tetsuya!"

"I'm awake."

"Eyes open, please. Or I'll have to hit you again."

Kuroko obeyed reluctantly. Then he wished he hadn't. Akashi's expression was painful to look at. His former captain looked like he was being eaten alive by guilt.

"Akashi-kun . . ."

"I'm sorry, Tetsuya. Just stay awake. You just do that and I'll take care of everything else."

Akashi was so sure that Kuroko had gotten shot saving his life again.

He didn't see that there was an equally good chance that Kuroko had been the sniper's target. Not him. And the guilt for that was eating Kuroko alive. Even more so because he couldn't say anything about it. Not in front of all the others who didn't know he was in the yakuza. Akashi was the only one who knew, and Kuroko wanted to keep it that way. And it clearly hadn't occurred to Akashi that this incident might be all Kuroko's fault.

Were his yakuza ties putting his friends in danger? Kuroko didn't know. But he needed to find out.

* * *

To be continued in Akashi's POV . . .

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	3. Decisive Action: Part 2

Decisive Action: Part 2

* * *

Akashi doesn't like to admit it, not even to himself, but when Kuroko shouted "Get down!" he didn't react, other than to turn and stare at his friend in confusion.

He started to get an inkling that there was some kind of danger when he saw Kuroko had shoved Momoi into Aomine so hard that they both went stumbling into the nearby alley. But he was still wrapping his head around the concept of danger when the shot split the air, at the exact second Kuroko rammed into him.

They both went down hard. Kuroko landed on top of Akashi and hunched over him, protectively, like a bodyguard. He wasn't heavy, thankfully. The fall wasn't painful. But the sight of blood on Kuroko's arm sent a pang through Akashi. It was then that he realized what the danger Kuroko had seen was. Someone with a gun. Kuroko had been shot.

Kuroko had taken a bullet for him.

Emotions flickered over Kuroko's usually impassive features, lightning fast, before being shoved down under a mask. But not his usual blank mask. This was a mask Akashi had only seen on a few occasions – both of them when Kuroko was on yakuza business. It was still blank, but in an almost scary way. There was something in his eyes that signaled that this was not someone to be trifled with. Not even Akashi's darker personality would want to move against Kuroko when he was wearing that look.

Kuroko rolled off Akashi and sent a quick glance toward their other friends. "Midorima-kun, Murasakibara-kun, get off the sidewalk! Get down behind something! Now! Kise-kun, call an ambulance! Akashi-kun's been shot!"

What?

The next thing Akashi knew, Kuroko was ripping open his shirt, trying to find a bullet wound that didn't exist. At least not on Akashi. Couldn't he feel that he was the one who'd been shot? Kuroko's own sleeve was drenched with blood now. Akashi was worried how much he was bleeding. He tried to sit up as Kuroko looked down at him confused, his eyes moving over Akashi's bare chest, arms, and shoulders, confusion growing as he still didn't find a wound. Then he gently, but with the appropriate amount of force to use on an injured person trying to move, he pushed Akashi back down.

"Don't move, Akashi-kun."

"Tetsuya . . ." said Akashi. "I'm not the one who was just shot!"

"What? Then who?" asked Kuroko.

Could he really not feel it? How could it not have at least occurred to him that maybe the one who had been shot was him?

"Who do you think?" Akashi shouted, and sat up. He grabbed Kuroko's arm above the bullet wound and tried to put pressure on it with his bare hands, since he had nothing else.

Then Kise was there beside them, pulling Midorima and Murasakibara down behind the car with them. "What's happening? What's going on? Shot? I don't understand! Gah! Kurokocchi's been shot?"

"That's a lot of blood," said Midorima.

Gee, you think? Akashi wanted to scream at him. But he managed to refrain. Just barely.

"Let go!" screamed Kuroko at Akashi and tried to pull away. It seemed that now he was finally feeling the pain.

"I don't understand . . ." Murasakibara looked lost. Lost and useless.

Kise, despite his rambling, seemed to be the most level headed of their group now. He'd had the sense to get Midorima and Murasakibara off the sidewalk, at least. So Akashi gave him an order.

"Ryouta, do what Tetsuya said and call an ambulance." Akashi let go of Kuroko momentarily, and removed his own torn shirt, already bloodstained from Kuroko's wound dripping on him. He tried to press it over Kuroko's wound, but Kuroko jerked away. His mask was crumbling, and irritability was seeping through the cracks. Akashi had no choice but to employ help from one of the others. "Atsushi, restrain Tetsuya."

"But Kuro-chin's hurt."

That's why I need you to restrain him, fool! Akashi wanted to shout. Because he's hurt and I can't treat him if he keeps trying to get away!

"Don't grab me, please," said Kuroko tersely. "I can take care of this –"

"You've been shot, Tetsuya. You cannot just put a bandaide on this and go about your merry way."

"What the fuck is going on?" Aomine demanded, appearing beside them out of the blue.

Kuroko twitched in agitation. "Why is everyone coming here? The alley is obviously safer! Akashi-kun, keep your head down!"

Good advice, Akashi had to admit. He'd started to rise a bit higher than he should have, given that there was a gunman somewhere. Before he could kneel back down, Kuroko grabbed him with his uninjured arm and jerked him down. Then he twitched, looking even more agitated.

"The police are coming. I've got to go."

"You're not going anywhere! Except to a freaking hospital!" Aomine shouted and grabbed Kuroko, who had actually started trying to crawl away. Kuroko flailed and tried to fight against Aomine, but Midorima grabbed Akashi's ruined shirt and grabbed Kuroko's arm, pressing the shirt against it like a compress.

"You don't understand! I need to be gone before they get here!"

This was not good.

Akashi alone realized what was happening. Kuroko was going into shock. Probably from blood loss, if the sizable amount around them was anything to judge by. If not from blood loss, then from trauma to his muscles and nerves. Akashi could see now that the bullet had gone straight through his arm. That could not have done him any good.

Shock wasn't a good state for anyone to be in. For someone with yakuza ties like Kuroko, it was even worse. Because Kuroko clearly wasn't in control of what he was saying.

"Tetsuya, you're going into shock," said Akashi, reaching out to grab his chin and forcing Kuroko to look him in the eyes. "You've just been shot. You need an ambulance. Ryouta is calling one for you."

"But the police –"

"Aren't coming to arrest you," promised Akashi.

Kuroko shook his head, looking unconvinced.

"They're not. I promise. But right now, you need to stay still, keep your mouth shut, and let me take care of you. Alright?" asked Akashi.

"No. No, I need . . ."

Akashi did not want to know what Kuroko thought he needed. Probably a handgun and a couple clips to go with it. Kuroko was merciless to those who put his friends in danger, and/or attempted to harm them. Akashi had seen this firsthand. And while he didn't feel a bit bad about what Kuroko had done to the men who'd planned to torture and kill Akashi, it had opened up Akashi's eyes and made him see, Kuroko Tetsuya was not someone to be taken lightly.

But what Kuroko said, wasn't as vicious as Akashi feared it would be. But it still wasn't something he probably should have been saying.

"I need to get to a safehouse. My uncle –"

Akashi slapped him across the face, as hard as he could. Then he ignored the startled cries of disbelief from his other teammates. He focused on Kuroko instead. Kuroko, who was now staring at him blankly, like he couldn't figure out what was happening.

"I'm sorry. I really am. But I can't let you go into shock," said Akashi. "You need to keep your head, Tetsuya. Please."

Kuroko stared at him for several long seconds. Then he finally nodded. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," said Akashi. "Not to me."

He took Kuroko's hand and squeezed it, because he thought that was the kind of thing Kuroko would appreciate. A gesture of friendship and comfort. And Akashi knew from watching him that Kuroko did appreciate human contact. He was a little awkward with it, but he appreciated it nonetheless. Probably because he didn't receive much of it.

The gratitude in his eyes made Akashi feel bad. Kuroko had taken a bullet for him, and he had slapped him. And now Kuroko was looking at him like that just for holding his hand while he was in immense pain? Pain that he was only in because he'd saved Akashi in the first place?

"Keep pressure on that wound, Shintarou," said Akashi, as he heard Kise get off his phone with the emergency line operator.

"An ambulance is on the way," said Kise.

"And a police car just pulled up. Two police cars. Three," counted Murasakibara.

"I still don't get what's going on," said Aomine. He was holding Kuroko immobile while Midorima tended Kuroko's wound and tried to stop the bleeding as much as possible.

"Someone tried to shoot me." Akashi felt a sharp stab of something that he rarely felt. Guilt. He was fairly certain he knew what this was about. His father had recently done some things in the business world that had . . . well, upset quite a few people to put it mildly. There had been death threats made toward Akashi's father, but those were something he got every year, and none of them had ever been serious before. But it seemed this time his father had pushed the wrong people too far.

Kuroko twitched. Akashi looked at him and saw guilt in his expression. It didn't take him long to figure out why. Kuroko was thinking he might have been the original target.

Well, it was possible. But Akashi didn't really believe it. From what he'd been able to dig up about Kuroko's yakuza family, not many people he wasn't related to by blood knew his face. (Akashi had done some research out of professional curiosity, since his path had crossed with the Black Hands twice in less than a year.) Kuroko, like any good assassin, stayed out of the limelight. Added to the fact that if someone wanted to gun him down, they'd need extremely high concentration or an eagle or hawkeye, and the other fact that Kuroko had been moving very quickly when he was shot, shoving Akashi down . . . well, that made it more and more unlikely that the shooter had been aiming at Kuroko.

"Tetsuya knew somehow," finished Akashi. "He saved my life."

"I saw the sniper scope's flash," said Kuroko. "Rookie mistake."

"Huh?" Kise looked bemused.

Akashi could see from the look on Kuroko's face that he wanted to face palm at that slipup. As far as everyone else knew, Kuroko Tetsuya was a perfectly innocent, harmless high school student. Only Akashi had any inkling of how dangerous he could be. His current behavior notwithstanding, it was obvious Kuroko wanted to keep it that way. So Akashi decided to cover for him. It was the least he could do.

"Tetsuya reads many mysteries and spy novels," Akashi reminded them. "It seems that the knowledge he gained from them just came in handy."

"I . . . yes." Kuroko relaxed when the others seemed to buy the lie. He let his eyes close and exhaled deeply. He looked like he might drift off to sleep.

"Stay awake, Tetsuya!" Akashi said sharply.

"I'm awake," replied Kuroko, after several seconds delay.

"Eyes open, please," insisted Akashi. He hated himself for what he said next, but it was necessary. "Or I'll have to hit you again."

Kuroko obeyed reluctantly. When his eyes met Akashi's he cringed. "Akashi-kun . . ."

"I'm sorry, Tetsuya. Just stay awake. You just do that and I'll take care of everything else."

A guilty expression crossed Kuroko's face. It seemed Tetsuya was quite emotive when he was in a mild state of shock. His thoughts were nearly transparent. He was wondering if his mere existence was putting his friends in danger.

Akashi didn't know how to convince him otherwise. At least not in front of the rest of the Generation of Miracles, if they wanted Kuroko's secret to stay a secret.

Actually, he probably couldn't be convinced right now, even if Akashi was able to say exactly what he wanted. Shock could make people stubborn beyond all reason. And Kuroko was a stubborn kid at the best of times. Akashi would make him see the truth later.

"Stay awake!" Akashi said when Kuroko closed his eyes again.

"It's hard."

"Since when do you let that stop you?" asked Akashi.

"Oh. Right." Kuroko opened his eyes and blinked owlishly. "Everything . . . it's fuzzy."

Akashi checked Kuroko's arm again and was distressed to see that it was still bleeding heavily. "Where is that damn ambulance?"

"Calm down, Akashicchi! It hasn't even been a full minute since I called it," said Kise.

"Do we need to worry about that sniper?" asked Aomine. "Is he going to, I don't know, circle around and get on another roof to take another shot at you, Akashi?"

"Congratulations, Aomine-kun."

"Huh?"

"You win for stupid question of the year," said Kuroko, almost dreamily. "Do you think this is a videogame? It's not that easy to get from roof to roof in real life."

"Hey!" said Aomine, but without any real anger.

Akashi felt like face palming. If he'd been wondering if Kuroko was a sniper too, at least that question had been answered. Though honestly, it hadn't occurred to him to wonder before today.

"I went to the wrong roof once. That could have turned out bad, except it didn't," said Kuroko. "It wasn't really my fault. My instructions were –"

"Tetsuya, on a scale of one to ten, how much pain are you in?" asked Akashi, to head off Kuroko's story.

"What?"

Akashi repeated the question. Kuroko took a minute to think about it.

"I don't know. Maybe a square root."

"His shock's getting worse," muttered Akashi. "Shintarou, do you know how to tie a tourniquet?"

Midorima looked at him sharply. "Yes, but –"

"Do it."

"If I do it wrong, he could lose his arm," protested Midorima.

"If you don't, he will very likely lose his life," said Akashi. "Look at how much blood he's lost already. There's at least a pint soaking my shirt and on the ground."

"A pint and a half, I think," judged Kuroko, looking at it with a critical eye. "So . . . I probably have at least seven more. Maybe six. Most people have ten before you shoot them but . . . I'm . . . not as tall as I'd like to be."

Oh God, he knows how many pints of blood are in a human body, Akashi thought, gritting his teeth. He supposed it made sense. That did seem to be the kind of fact that an assassin would want to know. Akashi decided to head off this line of conversation before Kuroko started telling more assassination stories. He'd have a pretty hard time covering for Kuroko saying something about how he always had to drain bodies of blood before moving them, or else they were too heavy.

"Shintarou, make a tourniquet," said Akashi. "If he's lost a pint and a half of blood in as many minutes, how much longer do you think he can stay alive like this?"

Kuroko looked like he was calculating and opened his mouth.

"Do not answer that, Tetsuya! That was a rhetorical question, and I wasn't asking it to you!"

Kuroko obediently closed his mouth, making Akashi feel a little bit bad about yelling at him like that. But it had been necessary if they didn't want the others to know how well acquainted Kuroko was with death and all things related to it.

"An ambulance should be here soon," said Akashi. "They should be able to get him to a hospital within ten minutes, I think. So he won't be wearing the tourniquet too long, Shintarou. Risk of him losing his arm is minimal."

He stopped for a moment to think, then looked at Kise. "It's likely that he'll need a transfusion. You and Tetsuya have the same blood type, Ryouta. Are you willing –"

"I'll do it," said Kise instantly, as Akashi had known he would. But Kise didn't start fanboying or getting all obsessive, like Akashi had expected. His face was tense with uncharacteristic seriousness.

"You'll ride with him in the ambulance then," said Akashi. This was a risk. He would have liked to go himself, but he knew that likely only one of them would be allowed to accompany Kuroko. That person either had to be Kise or Murasakibara, since Kise had A type blood like Kuroko, and Murasakibara had O type blood, and thus was a universal donor. Akashi knew that more likely than not, the hospital would have Kuroko's blood type in stock in their blood bank. But he wasn't going to risk it.

He watched as Midorima tore a strip off his blood soaked shirt and bound it around Kuroko's arm, above his bullet wound. He then tied his lucky item for the day, a mechanical pencil, into the tourniquet and began twisting it around and around, to tighten the fabric and cut off Kuroko's circulation. Akashi almost smiled at Midorima's combined resourcefulness and selflessness. Normally, getting him to part with his lucky item was harder than getting Murasakibara to part with his snacks. But with Kuroko's life at stake, Midorima hadn't even hesitated. Even though they both knew that Kise almost always carried a pen for autographs.

Akashi's desire to smile faded when he looked at Kuroko's face again. His eyes were shut. Akashi called his name, but that got no response this time. He shook him, then slapped him again, but Kuroko's eyes did not open.

"Did I wait too long?" asked Midorima, looking milk white. "Did I take too long to tie the tourniquet?"

"No," said Akashi. "Shock's been setting in since he was shot."  
"Akashi," said Aomine in a voice full of barely concealed anger, "Why was somebody shooting at you in the first place?"

"Most likely to try to strike a blow against my father." Akashi studied his former teammates, watching their reactions carefully to discern how they felt about this. Would they be angry at him for getting Kuroko shot? Or angry on his behalf, because they didn't approve of people shooting at him?

"What the hell did your father do?" demanded Aomine.

It was still too soon to tell where their anger came from.

"It was in the news," said Midorima. "Don't you pay attention to anything?"

"Not if it doesn't have to do with basketball or women with big boobs."

"Akashi's father acquired one of his company's competitors by less than scrupulous means," said Midorima. "A corporate takeover would be an appropriate way of putting it."

"So where the fuck does some bitch get to decide that's reason enough to shoot at Akashi?" Aomine demanded.

"If you don't know by now that there are too many stupid people in this world, there's no help for you," said Midorima.

"Hey! Shut up!"

"Do you know who this guy is, Aka-chin?" asked Murasakibara. "I'll crush him for you."

"Don't be ridiculous," said Kise. "You are not rushing off after some psychopath with a gun, Murasakicchi! Let the police take care of the bastard."

Not one of them turned an accusing look Akashi's way.

Something strange started happening at that moment. Akashi's eyes started stinging for no apparent reason. He blinked quickly several times, trying to fight back the sensation.

"Akashicchi? You alright?" asked Kise.

"Yes. Of course."

"This isn't your fault, you know that, right?" asked Kise.

Kuroko had been shot pushing Akashi out of harm's way. It very clearly was Akashi's fault. Nothing they said now would convince Akashi otherwise. But them believing that it wasn't Akashi's fault . . . it made something inside Akashi hurt, and he wasn't sure why.

"No one should have been shooting at you to begin with," snarled Aomine. "This is their fault. Blame them."

Something settled over his shoulders. Akashi looked up to see Murasakibara had taken off his hoodie and draped it over him, since Akashi was just kneeling there bare-chested.

"Kuro-chin will be fine, Aka-chin," said Murasakibara. "He's too stubborn to stay down."

That . . . that was true. Kuroko was a fighter. They all knew this by now. If there was even a fragment of a percent of chance of success, Kuroko would grasp ahold of it and bring it into reality. There was no way he was going to die of something as stupid as shock or blood loss. In some ways, it might be a blessing that he'd passed out. This way he couldn't say something that would give himself away as a member of the yakuza.

A few minutes later an ambulance arrived. A team of paramedics quickly went to work, prepping Kuroko to be moved. Less than a minute later, he was strapped down on a gurney and loaded into the ambulance, Kise right behind him.

"We'll meet you at the hospital," said Akashi.

"Uh, don't forget to call Seirin," said Kise right before they closed the doors. "Especially Kagamicchi. They'll never forgive us if we don't tell them about this and fast."

They'd probably never forgive them for this anyway. Seirin was likely to put the blame where it deserved to be put – right on Akashi's shoulders.

* * *

To be continued at the hospital, where Akashi meets a few of Kuroko's yakuza relatives.


End file.
